Any Crop-Dusters (Past/Present)?...Low Flying-Tips to stay alive?

[RansS9]

Tip no.1--Don't low fly........Okay now we've got that out the way.

Why the question?...I know my own training/experience has left me poorly skilled in manoeuvering an aircraft low to the ground. The best time to learn is probably not during a forced landing, precautionary landing, or low level circuit due to marginal weather.

Why agricultural pilots?....Because they know and because in the UK the're probable a dying breed; and with them their skills knowledge. Tornado GR4 pilots may have a view as well. Unfortunately the light aircraft I frequent don't reach 420kts...even straight down.

Specifics?....Turns at low level; height perception; dangerous visual illusions; dealing with low level turbulence; gotchas normal pilots wouldn't have even thought of. Okay if that sounds like a book it may already exist. If so could you point me in its' direction.

Thanks TIM

(Please note I'm not planning on rushing out and practising any of this stuff on my own. And no I don't wish to get an up close view of a Bae Hawk on a low level training exercise. Which brings me to my last question. Anyone know any suitably qualified/experienced instructors in the UK?)

[LH2]

Anyone know any suitably qualified/experienced instructors in the UK?

Not in the UK as such, but I know a place in the outskirts of Tripoli (the one in Northern Africa, not the one in the Levant, or the other one in Greece). It is in fact one of my future flying ambitions to get a Libyan cropdusting licence :ok: (No, I'm not taking the piss. And before anyone mentions it, the libyan GA fleet is actually in quite good condition since the end of the embargo--certainly better than in the UK, although I know that's not saying much)

[SNS3Guppy]

RansS9,

I've been flying ag and doing low altitude operations such as firefighting for many years now. That includes crop dusting, animal tracking and a host of other duties which required flying close to terrain. Some of my flying has been in flat terrain such as doing corn, wheat, and other row crops...but most of it has been in mountainous terrain. I've done this in light piston singles, medium turbine singles, all the way up through large four engine piston and turbine airplanes.

I'm rather leary of counseling someone over an anonymous web board regarding how to fly their airplane at low level. Extended flight at low level isn't really a skill applicable to making a force landing. For the private pilot, it's more something one might use to scud run or go play. Both can be a dangerous undertaking without proper preparation, training, and experience.

I'm not going to attempt to teach you how to do this over the internet, but I will discuss some common pitfalls and mistakes in the hopes one doesn't repeat them.

For a new ag pilot, one of the most common errors is striking the wheels on the furrows in the field, or dragging them in the crop. This comes from the inability to hold altitude properly, and in ag flying, a precise ground track and a precise altitude is very important (for several reasons, not all of which are applicable here). Part of this is lack of experience in judging height above ground...if you're low, flying is very much a heads-up endevor, and you need to have an intuitive understanding of your altitude...which can be measured in inches, or feet (or centimeters and meters, I suppose). This becomes particularly important when flying near intervening obstacles such as fences, powerlines, etc. You need to know you can clear those obstacles and by how much, as well as changes in the terrain beneath you.

I was spraying in Kansas (USA) when the Dromader was first introduced in the USA. At the time it was the biggest thing out there, with a 600 gallon hopper and a big russian/polish version of the R-1820 motor on it. A gentleman just south of us was working one. He was entering a field which had some tall weeds growing up along fenceline where he entered the field. He was experienced, and he was flying a large, heavy, fully loaded airplane. He dragged his wheels slightly through the tips of the weeds on his entry back into the field.

Unbeknownst to him, a corral was in the weeds, and he caught the top of a cedar post fence with one wheel. One would think the fencepost would have been pulled right out of the ground or at least broken off, but it wasn't. It stopped him so quickly that the airplane hardly skidded. It flipped over, broke the spar over the cockpit, cracked the hopper, and he drowned in the chemical. It doesn't take much to bring your flight to a crashing halt sooner than you might like.

obviously getting too low is bad. But how do you know when you're too low? You can fly over level ground fairly easily enough, but what about crossing obstacles such as fences, vehicles, and powerlines? Wires are a big hazard that bring down a number of airplanes ever year, and result in a number of fatalities. These can slice up your airplane like a knife through butter, or simply tear it apart. I've seen airplanes shredded, and thick parts such as the propeller cut as cleanly as though they'd been pushed through a band saw. Canopies shattered, wingtips removed, wings and horizontal stabs and vertical stabs removed, spray booms stripped off, and airplanes destroyed. Powerlines, guy wires on towers, support lines, etc...often can be nearly invisible. Very hard to see. Often there are more than you think, and they may come off at unusual angles or places where you don't expect them.

One rule of thumb is always looking for the highest obstacle or point, and clearing that. In the case of a powerline, one shouldn't attempt to cross any lower than the top of the pole. Yes, the wires sag in between, but there may be wires you don't see, and gauging a suspended obstacle for clearance is not easy. Additionally, some wires use smaller, nearly invisible supports on top of the poles for additional wires you may not see, and wires do extend from poles as supports when they change direction or experience a change in tension. In ag work, illegal powertaps without any poles to warn the wire is there can be especially dangerous.

One requirement in ag is to occasionally work underneath powerlines. This is something to not be taken lightly, and increases the hazards from a number of angles. You should consider any straight line you see on the ground as having a fence or a powerline with it. This means if you're making a forced landing, try not to do so where you'll be crossing straight lines such as roads, divisions between fields, etc...these nearly always have a fence or a powerline, or both, that you won't always see until it's too late. Assume any straight line has obstacles.

We used to do a lot of operating from roads. Farm roads, country roads, highways. Light general aviation airplanes, ag aircraft, et. Again, your wings stick out there farther than you think. If you've ever wandered from the centerline during a takeoff or landing, you can perhaps imagine what the increased consequences might be of signage alongside the road, powerlines crossing overhead, ditches alongside the road, fences, and other vehicles in your path. Where you have room to deviate around on a runway, you don't on a road. This applies to landing on one, or taking off. If a road looks attractive during a forced landing, it might be a good choice, but it may also be a trap.

Another common problem of low altitude flight is turning. It seems intuitive enough; bank and turn. However, part of banking is raising one wing and lowering the other. In low level flight however, you have to be sure to raise one wing and not lower the other. This involves a small climb in the turn, increasing with the angle of bank, to prevent the wingtip from striking the ground. Forgetting wingtips is a big thing in low altitude flight. The same comes in making turns or crosswind corrections close to the ground. The wings MUST stay parallel to the ground and the corrections made with the rudder, if you're within a wingspan of the ground. Dipping a wing just slightly, when you're concentrating on avoiding the ground and obstacles, with your attention diverted, can quickly roll you up in a ball.

Perspective during turns at low altitude is different than your perspective at higher altitudes. You may have done your ground reference maneuvers as a student at 500 to 800', but this is high altitude compared to flying close to the ground. Among other things, you have the ground rushing by in your perepherial vision. It's easy to let the sensation of the ground as a reference influence the way you make your turn, and you may find yourself pulling turns tighter because of various illusions or perceptions that occur down low. You may find yourself concentrating on the objects on the ground and losing altitude; you can lose a hundred feet in normal maneuvering and not thing twice about it, but fifteen feet during low altitude flying can kill you.

The US Border Patrol had a series of crashes in Husky's when they first started using the airplane. Most of them were traced to pilots flyin the airpalne into the ground while turning about a point. It's one thing to do this at 800', but it's another to do this at 30'. They were making these turns while chasing people on the ground or tracking people, and with a focus on the job at hand, altitude awareness went out the window. At one point the Border Patrol decided the airplanes must be unsafe...but it wasn't the airplane. It was the pilots.

You've already addressed some of the salient points of flying low; you know it's potentially dangerous, and you know you shouldn't be doing it. I'll add to that by stressing the same things you already mentioned. Low altitude operations can be conducted safely if you have the experience and the training and are prepared to do it. If not, it can be deadly. There's nothing down low that isn't at altitude (save for obstacles, windshear, cetain illusions, ground effect, etc)...but it's the pilot that's the most dangerous component in the airplane. As always.

A technique that many use when down low is to roll in a little "up" trim. That is, I'm always holding a little forward pressure on the stick. In a moment of inattention, the airplane will climb. Zero or neutral trim...no. Positive, or up trim, yes. I tend to fly the same way for takeoff and landing, too.

A very important point to consider is that you need to be prepared to put the airplane down at any time. Right here, right now. No holding off while seeking best glide speed, no searching for an appropriate road or field. When the engine fails, if you've failed to keep it in the forefront of your mind all the tiem, you're committed to whatever is in front of you. Good or bad. If you do keep it in the forefront of your mind, you'll always keep a viable option in front of you, and always plan an "out" or an escape.

Flying low places you at risk for birds, powerlines, trees, etc. A bird strike at a higher altitude is usually a distraction. It's a distraction down low, too, but you can't afford distractions, or to allow your prioritizing of flying the airplane to be affected by the distractions that may occur.

When flying low, you're going to need to look somewhere aside from straight ahead. When you do, your natural tendency is to compensate with your hands and feet, but looking one way, especially with the ground rushing by, can cause you turn turn the other, or vary your altitude (climbing usually is a lot safer than descending...what if you descend?). The tendency to do this is compounded even more in a turn.

Avoid obstacles. Judging your distance from a powerline, fence, or tree when you're flying by at 120 knots or higher can be difficult. It's very easy to drift laterally and end up catching a wingtip. Don't do that. Stay away from obstacles.

I'd caution you again and again to stay away from low level flying without the proper training, experience and preparation. I've discussed a few things to avoid. Some things are not to be avoided, and that included proper training from a competent and experienced instructor. Preparation for me means putting on a quality, approved helmet and flying gear. I wear nomex when I'm at low altitude, because having been in the position to make forced landings from low altitude before, I know anything is possible. I carry seat belt cutters, and a large knife to cut and break my way out of the airplane if the canopy won't release. I wear nomex and leather gloves, full length leather boots, and eye protection. These aren't things I would normally wear if flying a 172 from A to B, but things which have proven very beneficial, even lifesaving.

Low altitude planning includes becoming familiar with the place where you'll be flying. This often includes a visit to the area you'll be flying before hand, a close survey for obstacles, entry points, escape points, etc. It also occurs when you approach the area you'll be flying; circling the area at a safe altitude, looking for obstacles and obstructions, noting the lay of land, unusual wind currents, etc. This can be especially critical in mountainous terrain where there may be only one way in, and one way out.

Low altitude planning includes flying the right equipment for what it is that you're trying to do. Low altitude and low light calls for different equipment (instrumentation, lighting, etc) than strictly day flights, and so forth. The right kind of airplane with adequate power is also important. Arriving at an obstacle and being unable to outclimb it can hurt or kill you. You can do it safely in a J-3 cub if you're prepared to manage the airplane's energy adequately...but you can also get yourself into a real pickle. (That pickle can kill you).

Preparation includes having enough rest. It includes knowing where the sun will be and what you will and won't be able to see. It includes keeping a clean windshield. It includes becoming blindfold familiar with your cockpit; you don't always have the option of looking around for a control or knob when you're down low, and especially if you end up in a crash. You can't reach for the prop knob and grab the mixture; you've got to be right every time, and this means intimate knowledge of your cockpit...if you can be blindfolded and reach and touch any instrument or control on command without feeling for it, then you're getting there.

Experience...there's never any substitute for experience, but there's also only one way to get it...by experiencing it. This is best done under close supervision, following close, discriminating training. And of course, with proper preparation.

There's a certain enjoyment and pleasure to be had flying low, and to be honest, some of my favorite teenage times were chasing around the countryside in a J-3 cub with the doors open smelling fresh cut alfalfa and feeling the wind. I was also employed as an ag pilot then, and had a solid background in low level flight. If one seeks that enjoyment without the proper preparation, training, and experience, one may not have the opportunity to enjoy it for long. Many years ago the National Aerial Applicator's Association published an article detailing the statistical lifespan of an ag pilot At the time the average was seven years. That accounts for pilots who lasted seven years before they got killed on the job, those who lasted not quite their first spray season, and those who went their entire life, trouble free...few ag pilots have gone long without a mishap. I don't know what the statistics are today, but there are a lot of very experienced aviators running around out there who have had one or more mishaps due to low level flight. Don't join them. I lost a friend this year to this very thing. There are many more in times past. I'd just as soon never see another added to the list.

Fly safe.


--I believe Chuck, who posts here regularly, has a fairly lengthy low level background, as well.

[Lister Noble]

We used to have fertiliser and some chemicals applied by air to our farm in the UK in the early 80's.
The benefit is that there is no soil compaction or crop damage caused through tractor wheelings.
The company we used had a Pawnee that could lift around 500 kgs if I remember correctly.
We also used helicopters at times.
The pilot of the Pawnee was a middle aged South African,Noel Kimvik, and I got to know him quite well,when we were spreading fertiliser I had to stand in the field to mark for him,so he was flying over my head,with very little clearance,maybe 20 feet?
I also marked a couple of times for a fungicide,a bit stupid looking back!
He certailny pulled the aircraft round in low steep turn but thinking back he did exactly as Guppy said,a climbing turn.

When I asked about fatalities he said ,
"The pilots are either young or old,the others are dead"

I would imagine an ex fighter pilot civil instructor would know how to teach you,I was taught to fly by one and a couple times we would need to get a quick circuit in before the parachutists dropped,he would take control and do a really,really tight low circuit,nothing like a normal one.
Lister

[Iwasoneonce]

Certainly agree with Guppy.

Just like to add my 2 cents worth, as I did 10 years of it but a long time ago.

In civil aviation, the only legal low flying will be aerial work.

One of the biggest dangers of low flying are power and telephone cables. Most cable strikes are on occasions when the pilot was "aware they were there".

Before embarking on any low flying cable deflectors and cutters need to be fitted to your aircraft. One should endeavour to enter a field with wings level and also pull up and out of a field wings level. When clear begin the turn. If a cable is struck (normally the one that is forgotten about) the pilot has a chance of survival if the aircraft is latterly level, as the propeller, wire cutters and deflector hopefully will get you out of trouble. However if the wire is caught by the wing tip alone, during a turning pull up, you are dead, period. The wire needs to be cut or deflected. Aircraft wings are not known for their wire cutting properties.

Target fixation is another one to catch the unwary.

[RansS9]

Many thanks for all the replies, and especially to SN3Guppy.

Pure stick and rudder challenges (in peacetime ....long may it last); soaring, aerobatics and low level agricultural/surveillance/firefighting.

It strikes me that the arenas that most exploit the "True Freedom of Flight" are the ones that also make the greatest demands on pilot discipline.

SN3Guppy; How about a book? (with all that free time you have...yeah right!) I was thinking a sequel to Stick and Rudder by Langewiesche

"STICK AND RUDDER...in the weeds" by SN3Guppy and Friends.

TIM

[gpn01]

Specifics?....Turns at low level; height perception; dangerous visual illusions; dealing with low level turbulence; gotchas normal pilots wouldn't have even thought of.


Sounds rather like ridge running in a glider to me. Maybe you should try visiting a gliding club which has a ridge? There's several I can think of where I've experienced similar conditions....and you can fly legally below 500'. That would give you some useful pracrice in flying by attitude instead of instruments, dealing with turbulence, flying close to objects on the ground, handling multiple conflicts when you have other gliders on the ridge and developing a keen level of spatial awareness.

[Lister Noble]

Tim,I would second that:):)
There are some very experienced pilots on this forum,and their input on here needs to be saved.
Maybe an "easy" way of doing it would be to sort their replies on the various threads.
Put them together in some order of subject and maybe make available on-line.
With possibly a donation to a suitable charity for each download?
Or would an independent book be better and easier to manage?
Lister:)

[foxmoth]

Rans,
With this post and your one about spinning on the instructors forum I would strongly suggest you look at doing an Advanced PPL course such as that run by UH at Kemble, there other schools around that do some sort of similar course but I do not know who, where or what their standards are.

[RansS9]

I found that having the privilege of flying with a Mr.Cassidy at White Waltham gave me a good insight into upset (that's aircraft not people) and a basic foundation from which to continue to learn.

Thanks TIM.

[Chuck Ellsworth]

--I believe Chuck, who posts here regularly, has a fairly lengthy low level background, as well.

Yes, I did a fair amount of it during my career, seven years crop dusting both fixed and rotary wing , fifteen years captain on heavy water bombers and one season low level survey flying an Anson mk.5...that otta date me.:E

SNS3Guppy has pretty well laid out what it involves.

So my only advice is " DON'T " attempt low level flying without two things.

(1) Proper training.

(2) A reason to do so and thrills are not a good reason.

[Whiskey Kilo Wanderer]

Hi Rans / Tim,

You might like to locate a copy of SIX FEET OVER – Pleasures and Perils of Aerial Crop Spraying by Peter Charles. This may cover some of the spraying which has been reported above by Lister.

If you have problems finding one you can borrow my copy.

Safe Flying,
Richard W.

[QDMQDMQDM]

These guys could probably tell you a thing or two:

YouTube - Extreme Crop Dusting 1957 (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=3jWufkTHbj8&feature=related)

[hef]

Also have a look at Level the Odds by Bob Cleland.

My father was a topdressing pilot in NZ for 8 years or so, he flew a J3 Cub and later a Fletcher FU 24. He quit flying (after a crash) and starting farming just before I was born though so I never got to see him in action.

It used to be a HUGE industry here, and they are still busy.

[Pace]

(2) A reason to do so and thrills are not a good reason.

I have never done any crop dusting but the thrills of low flying are a real lure to some pilots.
Air racing especially Red Bull comes to mind :)

I came to flying from car racing many moons ago so the attraction to speed is ever present and I am sure the same goes for many pilots.

I have done some low flying but always over vast unpopulated areas or the sea and there is nothing like it for the shear thrill and sense of speed and the different persective of the terrain you fly over.

Many pilots seem to love a low pass down the runway but pilots are descouraged from low flying not only because of the dangers but because of the nuisance to people and animals who live below your path.

For those who love low flying but dont want the book thrown at them by the authorities try cloud flying.

You get the same sense of speed over flat and solid overcasts or for mountain flying playing around towering cumulus can be a thrill.

I can remember a very large piece of cumulus which had a tunnel carved right through the cloud. The tunnel was was perfect and could have ben carved out of rock. I flew through that tunnel which must have been 500 metres long with a ceiling ,a deck and sidewalls surrounding the aircraft. The experience was unreal.

But at least clouds are not hard (ok some are :) and you have a nice piece of air below you while you practice your steep turns, pull ups, stall turns etc

I would also encourage a course rather than on low flying on mountain flying. Apart from being a life experience especially over the Alps it will give you a better understanding of air currents as well as low flying awareness.

pace

[Justiciar]

I seem to remember a couple of years ago an article in one of the flying magazines on low flying training which as offered by a flight training organisation in Perth (Australia). I think they used a Maule.

[Madbob]

I have never been a crop sprayer but am ex RAF where I was taught to fly low to survive. It was always drilled into us that the kill probabability of flying into the ground (100%!) was always higher than being shot down by a SAM or Air-to-Air missile......

The tips already given though hold good, "up" trim, lookout and knowing the performance limits of the ac and in intimate knowledge of the cockpit are essential. Practice on clouds first and then work down gradually.....

If possible, get some dual time with an experienced pilot first and, get the right PPE, a good harness, helmet, flying suit and gloves. Finally, make sure there are no loose articles in the cockpit - you don't need a control restriction or a distraction.:=

Just my two cents worth but remember, I never said I have had first hand experience of ever spraying crops, apart from when having a slash on exercise!

MB

[Chuck Ellsworth]

I am very well aware that the thrill of flying low is as irresistible as the thrill a teenager feels when humping.

So for safety's sake if you do go down into a field to low fly remember to pull out. :E

[Pace]

Chuck

Use the clouds its much safer and avoids a report to the CAA for low flying :) or reserve it for when you can get to an unpopulated expanse of terrain where no one knows or cares.

When I had got my PPL over 20 years ago I had come into flying from Car racing. Thought I knew it all and ended up wrecking the club aircraft in a field so do beware :)

Pace

[Madbob]

MILITARY LOW FLYING TITBIT......

Many moons ago my Jet Provost QFI, who was by then a "mature" Flight Lieutenant with a great sense of self-preservation :ok:, taught me to maintain 250' MSD (min seperation distance) by telling his students "cows have legs but sheep don't!"

That is to say if you could see the legs on a sheep you were too low and if you couldn't see legs on a cow as you flew past you were too high!

I don't know if this is a universal part of the QFI "patter" but it worked for me.......

MB

[SNS3Guppy]

I can't speak for anyone else, but low is under powerlines, and when the wheels bounce off the ground. Low is looking up at trees and houses and big rocks. Low is when bird strikes occur because they don't hear you coming until you're nearly on them, then they rise up out of the grass. Low is having to climb to clear a fence or a car.

When I was a kid, I was working a field with my boss. I ran out of chemical, and he asked me to climb to 500' and wait while he finished up. I remember being afraid of climbing that high.

[RansS9]

Chuck... as an aside

Pulling out of the field at the right time... good.
Teenager humping pulling out at the right time...BAD.

Remember Gentleman;
Coitus interruptus is no subsitute for a condom!!

This Public Service Broadcast was brought to you courtesy of..................


TIM

[Skylark58]

When the people look like ants, you are too high. When the ants look like people you are too low............

[will5023]

We used to have crop sprayers apply fertilizer on our farm in Sussex, as a young lad I used to help load the hopper all day for a ride in the Pawnee, that's what got me into flying. Farm Air at Headcorn used to be the outfit, long gone now, but I remember well the sights and sounds of the Pawnee, wheeling around the South Downs.....if anyone comes across or knows Bob Sharpe(the pilot) please send him my regards, last known in N.Z.

Will (Swanborough Farm Sussex)

[Lister Noble]

When I asked our Pawnee pilot if there was a chance of a ride he said
"Wrong sex ,mate"
Lister:)

[Fark'n'ell]

Guppy

When I was a kid, I was working a field with my boss. I ran out of chemical, and he asked me to climb to 500' and wait while he finished up. I remember being afraid of climbing that high.

Guess you would be reaching for the oxegen mask.:ok:

[172driver]

Great thread :ok:

On a practical note - AFAIK there is a course in Ag flying you can do in Spain (Cordoba). Spanish friend of mine did this a couple of years ago, if you need more info let me know, I can try to find out more.

[captainspeaking2U]

During the late 70's and early 80's I used to crop spray for an American company who were cereal farming in Libya, and was using Cessna 188B Ag Trucks, tips for low flying are under power lines and over trees, looking out for irrigation machines.

CS2

[ExSp33db1rd]

.........I flew through that tunnel .........


I hope no-one was coming the other way !!

[ibisair]

Hello Lister, Just a small thing, the name is Noel Kinvig, he is an old friend, we sprayed together in a number of places over the years and eventually wound up flying Pilatus Portrs with Zimex Aviation. Noel is a New Zealander. All the best Paddy McKay

[Duck Rogers]

And there's me thinking the crop dusters hung around in the cunningly named bizjet and AGRICULTURAL forum :rolleyes:

[SNS3Guppy]

I imagine you'll find us in business jets, ag airplanes, private airplanes, airliners, you name it.

[Lister Noble]

I got it nearly right.:)
Is Noel still doing aerial work,he was based at Southend with someone like CKS when he did our farm?
If you are still in touch please give him my regards,he sprayed trials and commercial crops for us around Ongar,Essex,flying from Mike Luckin's farm strip at High Easter.
Lister

[mr. small fry]

SN3Guppy spells it out adequately. Preparation includes definition of the task to be performed (assuming it is of a professional nature), the desired objectives, performance limitations, overall risk assesment, contingency plans and a thorough "scouting" of the locale.

I never had the priveledge of trying dusting (would LOVE to), but flying inverted at 2 metres in film work, formation or during displays doesn't leave room for spare brain capacity (for me at least) to "make it up as you go along."

And yes, in such regimes of flight there IS a significant risk, and protective clothing/equipment could well save your life! I have seen it do just that.

[doubleu-anker]

Noel? I've just googled the name and he has a book out. Might be the book some of you maybe looking for.

[Flyingmac]

North Norfolk coast. Spring tides can uncover a mile wide beach. Trim to require slight forward pressure for straight and level. Watch out for birds and the occasional bait-digger. Give bird sanctuary a wide berth. Be alert for other like-minded loons. Not me though. Not ever. Never. Honest.

[Arclite01]

Just don't do it, don't do it at all.

They train for it in NZ as part of the PPL (along with Mountain Flying - I did some when I was there)

The risks are just too high - honest.

Like Lister says ' the pilots are either very old or very young - the rest are dead'

Arc

[SNS3Guppy]

Advising others to act safely and responsibly is being "timid?" Really?

[parafinburner]

I used to do Ag flying in Africa and UK had a great time

[Russell Gulch]

5 and a bit years...wow!

parafinburner, you need to keep off the paraffin and sniff more avgas.:hmm:

[Chuck Ellsworth]

The Tobacco Fields - By Chuck Ellsworth

For generations the farmers of southern Ontario have planted cared for harvested and cured tobacco in a small area on the northern shores of lake Erie. Our part in this very lucrative cash crop was aerial application of fertilizers and pesticides better known as crop dusting.

At the end of the twentieth century this form of farming is slowly dying due to the ever-increasing movement of the anti-smoking segment of society. Although few would argue the health risks of smoking it is interesting that our government actively supports both sides of this social problem. Several times in the past ten or so years I have rented a car and driven back to the tobacco farming area of Southern Ontario, where over forty years ago I was part of that unique group of pilots who earned their living flying the crop dusting planes.

The narrow old highways are still there, but like the tobacco farms they are slowly fading into history as newer and more modern freeways are built. The easiest way of finding tobacco country is to drive highway 3, during the nineteen forties and early fifties this winding narrow road was the main route from Windsor through the heart of tobacco country and on to the Niagara district. Soon after leaving the modern multi lane 401 to highway 3 you will begin to realize that although it was only a short drive you have drifted back a long way in time. Driving through the small villages and towns very little has changed and life seems to be as it was in the boom days of tobacco farming, when transients came from all over the continent for the harvest. They came by the hundreds to towns like Aylmer, Tillsonberg, Deli and Simcoe, these towns that were synonymous with tobacco have changed so little it is like going back in time.

Several of the airfields we flew our Cubs, Super Cubs and Stearmans out of in the fifties and early sixties are still there. Just outside of Simcoe highway 3 runs right past the airport and even before turning into the driveway to the field I can see that after all these years nothing seems to have changed. I could be in a time warp and can imagine a Stearman or Cub landing and one of my old flying friends getting out of his airplane after another morning killing tobacco horn worms, and saying come on Chuck lets walk down to the restaurant and have breakfast. The tobacco hornworm was a perennial pest and our most important and profitable source of income. Most of my old companion's names have faded from memory as the years have passed and we went our different ways but some of them are easy to recall.

Like Lorne Beacroft a really great cropduster and Stearman pilot. Lorne and I shared many exciting adventures in our airplanes working together from the row crop farms in Southern Ontario to conifer release spraying all over Northern Ontario for the big pulp and paper companies. Little did we know then that many years later I would pick up a newspaper thousands of miles away and read about Lorne being Canadas first successful heart transplant. I wonder where he is today and what he is doing?

There are others, Tom Martindale whom I talked to just last year after over forty years, now retired having flown a long career with Trans Canada Airlines, now named Air Canada. Then there was Howard Zimmerman who went on to run his own helicopter company and still in the aerial applicating business last I heard of him. And who could forget Bud Boughner another character that just disappeared probably still out there somewhere flying for someone.

I have been back to St. Thomas, another tobacco farming town on highway 3 twice in the last several years to pick up airplanes to move for people in my ferry business. The airport has changed very little over the years. The hanger where I first learned to fly cropdusters is still there with the same smell of chemicals that no Ag. Pilot can ever forget. It is now the home of Hicks and Lawrence who were in the business in the fifties and still at it, only the airplanes have changed.

My first flying job started in that hangar, right from a brand new commercial license to the greatest flying job that any pilot could ever want. There were twenty-three of us who started the crop dusting course early that spring, in the end only three were hired and I was fortunate to have been one of them.

With the grand total of 252 hours in my log book I started my training with an old duster pilot named George Walker. Right from the start he let me know that I was either going to fly this damned thing right on its limits and be absolutely perfect in flying crop spraying patterns or the training wouldn't last long. It was fantastic not only to learn how to really fly unusual attitudes but do it right at ground level.

To become a good crop duster pilot required that you accurately fly the airplane to evenly apply the chemicals over the field being treated. We really had to be careful with our flying when applying fertilizers in early spring as any error was there for all to see as the crop started growing. This was achieved by starting on one side of the field maintaining a constant height, airspeed and track over the crop. Just prior to reaching the end of your run full power was applied, and at the last moment the spray booms were shut off and at the same time a forty-five degree climb was initiated. As soon as you were clear of obstructions a turn right or left was made using forty five to sixty degrees of bank. After approximately three seconds a very quick turn in the opposite direction was entered until a complete one hundred and eighty degree change of direction had been completed. If done properly you were now lined up exactly forty-five feet right or left of the track you had just flown down the field.

From that point a forty-five degree dive was entered and with the use of power recovery to level flight was made at the exact height above the crop and the exact airspeed required for the next run down the field in the opposite direction to your last pass. Speed was maintained from that point by reducing power.

To finish the course and be one of the three finally hired was really hard to believe. To be paid to do this was beyond belief. When the season began we were each assigned an airplane, a crash helmet, a tent and sleeping bag and sent off to set up what was to be our summer home on some farmers field. Mine was near Langdon just a few miles from lake Erie.

Last year I tried without success to find the field where my Cub and I spent a lot of that first summer. Time and change linked with my memory of its location being from flying into it rather than driving to it worked against me and I was unable to find it. Remembering it however is easy, how could one forget crawling out of my tent just before sunrise to mix the chemicals? Then pump it into the spray tank and hand start the cub. Then to be in the air just as it was getting light enough to see safely and get in as many acres as possible before the wind came up and shut down our flying until evening. Then with luck the wind would go down enough to allow us to resume work before darkness would shut us down for the day. The company had a very good method for assuring we would spray the correct field.

Each new job was given to us by the salesman who after selling the farmer drew a map for the pilots with the location of the farm and each building and its color plus all the different crops were written on the map drawn to scale. As well as the buildings all trees, fences and power lines were drawn to scale. It was very easy for us to find and positively identify our field to be sprayed and I can not remember us making any errors in that regard.

Sadly there were to many flying errors made and during the first three years that I crop-dusted eight pilots died in this very demanding type of flying in our area. Most of the accidents were due to stalling in turns or hitting power lines, fences or trees.

One new pilot who had only been with us for two weeks died while doing a low level stall turn and spinning in, he was just to low to recover from the loss of control. He had been on his way back from a spraying mission when he decided to put on an airshow at the farm of his girlfriend of the moment. This particular accident was to be the last for a long time as those of us who were flying for the different companies in that area had by that time figured out what the limits were that we could not go beyond.

Even though there were a lot of accidents in the early years they at least gave the industry the motivation to keep improving on flying safety, which made a great difference in the frequency of pilot error accidents. Agricultural flying has improved in other areas as well especially in the use of toxic chemicals.

In 1961 Rachel Carson wrote a book called "The silent spring. " This book was the beginning of public awareness to the danger of the wide area spraying of chemicals especially the use of D.D.T. to control Mosquitoes and black flies.

For years all over the world we had been using this chemical not really aware that it had a very long-term residual life. When Rachels book pointed out that D.D.T. had began to build up in the food chain in nature, she also showed that as a result many of the birds and other species were in danger of being wiped out due to D.D.T. Her book became a best seller and we in the aerial application business were worried that it would drastically affect our business, and it did.

The government agency in Ontario that regulated pesticides and their use called a series of meetings with the industry. From these meetings new laws were passed requiring us to attend Guelph agricultural college and receive a diploma in toxicology and entomology. I attended these classes and in the spring of 1962 passed the exams and received Pest Control License Class 3 - Aerial Applicator.

My license number was 001. Now if nothing else I can say that I may not have been the best but I was the first. Without doubt the knowledge and understanding of the relationship of these chemicals to the environment more than made up for all the work that went into getting the license. From that point on the industry went to great length to find and use chemicals less toxic to our animal life and also to humans.

It would be easy to just keep right on writing about aerial application and all the exciting and sometimes boring experiences we had, however I will sum it all up with the observation that crop dusting was not only my first flying job it was without doubt the best. I flew seven seasons' crop dusting and I often think of someday giving it another go, at least for a short time.

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If you haven't seen it yet, I thought a few might appreciate this video

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